Today In Dictator Power Moves: Putin Announces Anti-Gay News Director

Today in dictator power moves, Russian president/possible breast man/world's most powerful hipster/general alpha-male charisma conduit Vladimir Putin has decided to announce his pal and, of course, staunch supporter, Dmitry Kiselyov as the head of Russia's government controlled state news agency. Part of a rebranding effort, which included changing the name of the organization to the much more friendly-seeming Russia Today, it seems Putin's PR people are in for a bit of a challenge.

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Kiselyov is famed for his homophobic (to put it mildly) comments a couple years ago on the show he hosted. He suggested that not only should gays not donate organs, they should be "burnt or buried in the ground as unsuitable for the continuation of life."

While Russia has never been a bastion of journalistic integrity, falling more on the side of North Korea's propaganda-spreading "news" agency and their unicorn lairs than outlets like the New York Time or BBC and actual facts, this seems to be a particularly bad call on Putin's part amidst growing international disdain for his stance on gay rights while under the microscope brought by the looming Olympics AKA the Gangster Olympiad.

When even the German president announces he's boycotting due to human rights transgressions, perhaps it's time for a slightly more modern nod to what's acceptable in the rest of the world at large?

Not that any of it matters to Putin, whose ego is so vast that—let's face it—he doesn't care what you think. Although his approval ratings are at the lowest since 2000, does that really make a difference when you're the supreme leader? What are they gonna do, vote him out? 'Cause that worked last time. Looks like there's something that a fiercely homophobic dude who loves ABBA, large swords and shirtless horseback riding needs to come to terms with.

Does anyone else suspect Snowden may be hog-tied, gimp-suited and ball-gagged in a Kremlin basement somewhere, absently humming "Dancing Queen," rocking back and forth and suddenly realizing just how much better off he could've been in, well, anywhere else?